Originally released in 2002 as an indie game before indie games, horizontal shooter Platypus gets a full remake as Platypus: Reclayed. Its main gimmick obviously comes from the clay, stop-motion visuals, but thankfully it has been outfitted with fun, thoughtful shooter mechanics especially in local co-op.
Remade with widescreen, 4k support, there is no denying the top-tier creative visuals. From the parallax background, to how the enemy ships crack as they take damage, it is easy to see this product is a labor of love. The soundtrack is also quite pleasant so the presentation values firmly hit the nail on the head.
Thankfully, this shmup is more than just looks. Needing only one button, gameplay is simple but it isn’t without depth or strategy. While the player doesn’t need to manage any super meters or multiple types of attacks, the power-ups are fun and creative. In addition to nuking your enemies with missiles or rapid firing machine guns, bombarding the incoming horde with donuts, flying fish, and even a boxing glove turns the charm meter to eleven. The gameplay is constantly fluid, colorful, and upbeat. Oh yeah, and there is a behind-the-scenes picture gallery of the studio used to photograph the clay figures, providing thoughtful insight to this game’s creation. I wish more games documented and presented the game making journey.
There are a handful of stages but each one is broken down into multiple parts, capping with a stage ending boss. Then, when a stage is cleared, the player is given the option to restart at the level of your choice instead of always starting at the beginning. Further, a score attack with leaderboard becomes unlocked once each level is cleared, adding replay value. And speaking of replay value, there are a few playable ships, each with their own abilities.
As wholesome and fun as this shooter is, I do have one major gripe – the balancing. It seems this game was designed around co-op because playing solo, even on the lowest difficulty, is near impossible. It took me many attempts, but I finally managed to clear the Stage 2 boss. This boss will be the first major hurdle players will encounter as this boss shoots an unfair amount of homing missiles, takes way too many hits, and the screen get filled with bullets. If you get hit once, you lose your power-up and the peashooter has no chance at taking down this behemoth solo. Do not let the kiddie visuals fool you. This shooter’s difficulty spikes are no joke. Instead of being tough-but-fair, it is frustrating and impossible at times. Also, the highest difficulty is so insane I do not believe it can be beaten. If anyone can clear this game on the highest difficulty, that should be a Let’s Play everyone would want to see.
It is a shame because everything is going well, you are having fun, then wham, you get smacked with a boss or a gauntlet of bullets, requiring numerous restarts. However, it seems the devs knew of this unbalance so they included a “unlock all” option on the menu screen. Choosing this quality-of-life feature cannot be undone but will most likely be checked if players are restricted to solo play.
There are a couple other complaints that are noticeable after playing a couple runs. First, enemies will often drop score-enhancing fruit. When collected, they add to your total and are also tied to some Achievements. However, the fruit always falls to the right. The problem is, this fruit becomes nearly impossible to collect because they overlap with incoming enemies. If you hover towards the front of the screen, it is easy to get spawn killed. Instead, the fruit should fly to the left by default, giving the player a chance to collect it. As it is, the risk does not outweigh the reward for attempting to boost your score with these optional collectables.
Next are the power-ups. Well, the power-ups are actually awesome but how they are collected can be frustrating. Like other shooters, if you clear a wave of enemies, the final one can release an icon. When this icon is collected, you get that power up, but if you shoot that icon, the letter changes indicating a new power up can be collected. However, since there are constant enemies and you need to hold the shoot button to stay alive, there is a good chance you will shoot the power up icons the same number of times each time they appear. For example, I collected the green wave beam icon almost every time because that is the symbol that would always appear simply holding the shoot button as you move forward to collect it. I feel like the dropped icons should start with a different letter each time to avoid this issue. There will also be plenty of times you will take damage the second the power-up is collected too, again, due to the high difficulty.
It is a shame the balance was set for skilled co-op players and not a solo experience because the difficulty spikes are unfair and rage-quittable. Which is frustrating because Platypus: Reclayed is a good, smile inducing shooter… when you are not screaming at the difficulty. If playing solo, keep this in mind. However, if you can play local co-op, then the difficulty will be a little easier which will result in more pleasure.
With the exception of Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Platypus: Reclayed is probably the best clay-based game I’ve played even with its balancing issues, easily beating out the Clay Fighter series and Claymates. While I wish the single player difficulty was so steep, Platypus: Reclayed is still a quality shooter loaded with wholesome charm. Be sure to put this on your wishlist and coordinate a local co-op session with a friend.
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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RATING
OUR SCORE - 7
7
SCORE
Platypus: Reclayed is a fun, stop-motion, clay-based vertical shooter dripping with creativity but the insane difficulty spikes get in the way of the fun, especially when playing solo.
Editor in Chief - been writing for mygamer,com for 20+ years. Gaming enthusiast. Hater of pants. Publisher of obscure gaming content on my YT channel.
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